Brian Harman found himself in elite company through two rounds at Royal Liverpool, tying the 36-hole record also held by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Even better was having no company at all atop the leaderboard Friday in the British Open.
Harman seized control early with four straight birdies, and saved his best for the final hole. He ripped a 5-iron to 15 feet for eagle, giving him a 6-under 65 that was good for a five-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood going into the weekend.
McIlroy had even more ground to make up. He figured a round in the 60s would have put him right back in the mix. He lost his spark around the turn and only a birdie at the par-5 18th allowed him to break par with a 70. He was nine shots behind in his quest to end nine years without a major. Fleetwood made back-to-back birdies on the back nine to get within four shots of Harman, only to find a bunker to the left of the 16th fairway. He could only splash out and had to hit a superb pitch to save bogey. He scrambled for par on the final two holes for his 71.
"It played tough -- it played really, really tough," McIlroy said."Ten-under par is unbelievably impressive out there. We'll see what the weekend holds. But after two days I'm actually pretty happy with my two days' work."Dustin Johnson shot an 82, his worst score in a major since the final round at Pebble Beach that cost him a chance in the 2010 U.S. Open.
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